Jazz Articles about The Doors

About The Doors

Extended Analysis

Doors: Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine

by Doug Collette
October 4, 2014

Given his fascination with media, the late Jim Morrison would no doubt be deeply bemused at the irony of the release of a Doors compilation on cd (a dying configuration) due its popularity as a Record Store Day 2014 issue on vinyl lp (the configuration that won't die). It's no accident that Bruce Harris' original liner notes for Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine have been retained (nor pure expedience either, though there's no indication these tracks have ...

Multiple Reviews

The Doors: The App and Beyond

by Doug Collette
July 20, 2014

Given the late Jim Morrison's fascination with media, plus the film school experience he shared with Ray Manzarek, it's more than a little fitting The Doors have unveiled their own computer app. Few rock bands have their own app, apart from those centered on a specific release, but then, few have the near half-century history to draw upon, as do The Doors. Subtitled “An Immersive Journey," the app certainly is that. With a dense multi-layered menu of music, ...

Film Review

The Doors: R-Evolution

by Doug Collette
March 8, 2014

The Doors R-Evolution Eagle Vision 2014 The pristine clarity of the audio and video content on The Doors' Re-evolution, much of it unreleased, lends a ghostly quality to the film, perhaps to an even greater extent than its creators imagine. Not intended to be definitive, this two hour-plus compilation of music videos and conceptual pieces instead illustrates the ever-growing legacy of this iconic band. From the staged likes of the 'music film' for ...

Album Review

The Doors: Live At The Bowl '68

Read "Live At The Bowl '68" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
December 29, 2012

The Doors' Live at The Bowl '68 is a remarkable piece of work, as much for the technical wizardry of the recording it comprises as for the pointed restraint on the part of the iconic band as it performs.Arguably at the height of its popularity at the time of this July 5, 1968 performance at the famed Los Angeles venue, The Doors was about to peak in commercial terms, at which point its music suffered as much as ...

Extended Analysis

The Doors: L.A. Woman - 40th Anniversary Edition

by C. Michael Bailey
March 18, 2012

The DoorsL.A. Woman: 40th Anniversary EditionElecktra2012 In the end, The Doors were a jazz organ trio playing the blues, what keyboardist Ray Manzarek called “The Modern Jazz Quartet of Rock." Flirting with psychedelia on its first four albums, providing an acid soundtrack to 1967's Summer of Love, and releasing a critical career- killing album in The Soft Parade (Elektra, 1969), the band found its roots and made comeback skid-marks with Morrison Motel ...

Album Review

The Doors: LA Woman: 40th Anniversary Edition

Read "LA Woman: 40th Anniversary Edition" reviewed by Doug Collette

by Doug Collette
March 17, 2012

The two-disc reissue of The Doors' L.A. Woman (Elektra, 1971), released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original album, documents how this band achieved what The Beatles could not with Let It Be (Apple, 1970). Jim Morrison and company effectively and authentically went back to their musical roots and, in so doing, restored their camaraderie as a band.It matters little whether disc one or disc two is approached first--the former contains the now-classic, finished product, the latter ...

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Film Review

When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors

by John Kelman
September 4, 2010

The DoorsWhen You're Strange: A Film About The DoorsEagle Vision2010 There are a usually two ways of looking at iconic 1960s rock group, The Doors. One views it as nothing more than a vehicle for front man Jim Morrison, an enigmatic and undeniably charismatic singer with little regard for convention and, to some, a profound lyricist. Another finds Morrison's self-indulgent, self-destructive behavior as nothing more than rampant narcissism; a textbook demonstration of ...